Alpha Beta
by LayKay
Summary: 26 separate shippery drabbles, each based on a word that starts with a different letter of the alphabet. 13 Waige and 13 Quintis. Rated T just to be safe.
1. Arms

AN: I had this idea to write 26 short one-shots based on a word that begins with one letter of the alphabet and decided it could be fun. There's one word that's a phrase instead of a word because the letter presented some difficulty. I've already decided on the words so there will be 13 Waige stories and 13 Quintis stories, but sometimes there will be two or three of one before the other's next story.

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><p><strong>A: Arms<strong>

Walter loved Paige's arms, since the first time he'd woken up with her arm across his chest. He loved that they were smooth and soft but at the same time still muscular and strong.

Paige was a cuddler, something he'd known before their first night sharing a bed. On the way back from a particularly exhausting job, she'd snuggled up against him in the van and leaned her head against his shoulder, their arms becoming tangled at some point. Now that they usually spent nights together, he'd become used to the fact that she rarely kept her arms- or legs, for that matter- to herself despite the fact that they slept in a double bed with plenty of room for both of them to sleep comfortably. She'd always ended up half on top of him, holding him in a vice grip as if her sleeping subconscious were scared of him slipping away at some point in the night.

He'd tried to appease her by spooning behind her as she went to sleep before rolling onto his back so he could sleep more comfortably but there was no fooling Paige, even when she slept. Not a day went by that he didn't wake up with her arms around his chest and her leg hooked across his, so he noticed immediately the mornings that Paige wasn't in bed with him. He missed her on top of him on the rare occasion she woke up first.

One morning, he woke up with a soft groan, her body missing from his. He lifted his head to look at the clock before he smelled sausages cooking and rolled out of bed, dressing himself quickly in a pair of lounging pants and a t-shirt before he wandered barefoot into her kitchen, where she was standing at the stove wearing only a dark shirt of his that she liked to sleep in.

"Good morning," she said brightly, not turning away from her cooking.

He smiled as he walked over to her, placing his hands against her shoulders and sliding his hands slowly down the length of her arms stopping to rest just below her elbow, making her shiver. "Morning," he whispered, placing a quick kiss against her neck.


	2. Beach

AN: So I honestly had no idea there was another Alphabet Soup story going around, I didn't intend on stealing the idea/title from anyone and I've obviously changed the title to differentiate between the two. It is a very popular fanfic idea so that was an honest mistake on my part.

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><p><strong>B: Beach<strong>

"You need to build up the rear wall," Walter told Ralph as they sat in the sand, building an elaborate sandcastle.

"You guys," Paige called from the ocean. Walter looked up at her while Ralph added more sand to the walls. "Come swim with me."

"No thank you," Walter said before turning back to their sandcastle.

Paige walked onto the beach, sitting next to Walter on his towel. "You know, if you guys didn't work so hard on that thing, I'd have half a mind to knock it over."

"High tide will destroy it in six hours and seventeen minutes," Ralph said.

"Why would you knock it over?" Walter asked before he looked at Ralph. "If we build a retaining wall and dug a moat, the castle may be able to survive the night."

Ralph smiled and quickly got to work on the wall while Paige sighed. "When I suggested we take a trip to the beach, I thought we might actually spend some time swimming. You guys haven't even gone in the water."

"You wanted to go to the beach, and we've stayed on the beach. You've been in the ocean," Walter pointed out. "To be completely technical, we're doing exactly what you wanted. Did you know most shark attacks in the Pacific happen in September, over ten percent of victims are often swimmers in the shallow water?"

"So what you're telling me is there's a ninety percent chance that nothing will happen," Paige said. "Come on, just come swim with me." She stuck out her bottom lip, pouting as she looked at him, blinking her eyes. "Please," she whispered, taking his hand.

He let out a low groan when she stood with his hand in hers and gave his arm a small tug. He stood slowly and kissed her forehead quickly. "You're lucky I love you."

She smiled at him, shrugging her shoulders. "The jury's still out on that one. Come on, Ralph."

The boy looked at his sandcastle then at his mother before he looked at Walter, who let go of Paige's hand to talk to the ten-year-old. "It'll make your mom happy. That's our job, right, to keep her happy?"

Ralph nodded and held onto Walter's hand while he took Paige's again as they all walked into the water together. Walter walked into knee-deep water before he let go of Paige's hand, watching her and Ralph splash around a few feet away.

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><p>AN: The next storychapter will be Quintis, I promise


	3. Caretaker

**C: Caretaker**

"How do you, or anyone for that matter, run face first into a brick wall?" Happy asked as she dabbed at a bad scratch on Toby's forehead with a cotton ball, straddling his legs as she stood over him while he sat on the couch.

"You know when I'm being chased my attention is not on the obstacles in front of me," he said. "Or maybe I just like it when you play nurse."

She almost smiled before she shook her head. "Well, don't get used to it. Once Paige is over the flu, she'll be the one cleaning up your blood again. Or maybe you could just stop getting hurt every time you go somewhere."

"What fun would our job be without a little bloodshed?"

"Hey, I like bloodshed as much as the next girl, as long as the one bleeding from the head isn't my boyfriend."

"Why does it take me nearly dying for you to call me your boyfriend?" he asked as she turned away from him to get a bandaid.

"You didn't nearly die, cheesehead," she said as she placed the bandage on his forehead. "I've called you my boyfriend before, you act like I never say it."

"We've been exclusive for two months and fourteen days, you've used the words boyfriend and girlfriend three times, five times if you count the two times you just said it."

"Okay, fine," she said, nodding her head once. "I'll try to say it more but you really sounded like high school girl just now."

He grinned. "I'll take that as a compliment." He put his hands against her hips and pulled her down into his lap to kiss her. "Now, about this nurse thing. What are the chances of you wearing a sexy nurse costume for me later?"

She bit down on her bottom lip as if she were considering his request before she smacked him lightly in the forehead with the back of her hand. He winced as his cut stung at the contact, rubbing two fingers over his bandage as she moved off his lap.

"So, wait, was that a no?" he called as she walked over to her workstation. Without looking at him, she shrugged one shoulder. "A shrug is not a no."

She smiled at him before she pulled her welding mask over her face.

He grinned and grabbed his car keys. "No signs of a concussion. I'll be back in about an hour," he told Sylvester and Walter as he left the garage. He got into his car and pressed a button on his phone. "Siri, find me a costume store."


	4. Dance

**D: Dance**

"Okay, you can open your eyes now," Walter said as he led Paige to the roof of the garage.

Paige opened her eyes slowly, looking around the roof, which had been decorated in twinkly lights and streamers. "What is this?"

"Your birthday party," he told her. "I know you were disappointed that we had to work all day last Thursday, you never got to really enjoy your day."

She couldn't help smiling as she looked up at him. "You don't believe in birthdays."

"I think it's ridiculous to receive presents for being expelled from the birth canal, especially because the mother is the one who does all the work that day."

"As someone who has been in both positions, I would not mind getting a present or two on Ralph's birthday."

He smiled at her. "Either way, I think you being born deserves celebration."

She smiled, looking around the roof again. "Where's everyone else?"

"Out," he told her as he reached down to take her hand, leading her to the middle of the roof. "It's just us tonight."

"Oh," she said with a tiny smile. "So all of this, was you?"

He nodded, looking up at the lights he'd strung. "I don't take you out enough and I realize that. I know how much you love dancing, even though I can't," he said, pulling a remote out of his pocket and pressing a button so soft music began playing. "I know it isn't a club or…" he started to say but was cut off when her lips pressed against his.

"It's perfect," she whispered, moving her arms around his shoulders, her fingertips in the short hair at the nape of his neck as his hands went to her waist as they began to move slowly to the music. "Thank you."

He smiled as she leaned her head against his shoulder. "Happy birthday," he whispered.


	5. Espied

**E: Espied**

Happy watched Toby from across the garage as he paced around his workstation, flipping the pages of the large book he was reading. He seemed to barely be giving himself time to glace at the page before turning to the next one. She'd learned in the years she'd known him that skimming the pages of a book meant he was distracted by something. Or someone.

She had no reason to be jealous. It was an irrational emotion to feel, especially to a man she had no real claim to. One night together that involved a bit too much tequila didn't mean they were in a relationship, especially since he'd hardly said two words to her after the fact.

While she was picking up parts one day for the tractor she was rebuilding, she saw him through a large window in the building across the street. A woman he was with touched his arm then hugged him. Happy watched Toby put his arms around her waist and hug her back before she forced herself to look away.

She bit the inside of her cheek, continuing to watch Toby read before she finally got up and walked over to him. "So the other day I was on Second Street, you know the auto body place?"

He blinked once then nodded. "I know it."

"I uh… I saw you. Hugging some woman."

He frowned then inhaled deeply. "Oh, her."

"Yeah, her." She opened her mouth then closed it again. "Forget it. I don't even know what I thought talking to you would accomplish."

He sighed. "I hate lying to you so if you must know, she's a therapist I'm seeing."

"Wow, talk about taking your work home with you," she muttered.

"What? No, I'm not seeing her like _seeing_ her. We're friends, we went to med school together, I graduated a year ahead of her. I needed an outlet, I called her and she agreed to meet with me."

"Yeah, right. An outlet. Forget it, Toby." She shook her head, turning to walk back to her desk.

He immediately moved around his desk to follow her. "Why are you angry with me? I haven't done anything wrong."

"No, you haven't. Do whatever you want, _whoever_ you want. See if I care. I honestly don't even know why I asked. It's none of my business."

"Whoa," he said, putting his hands up defensively. "Whoa. Wrong kind of outlet. I'm not… doing anyone. Especially not Samantha, who by the way, has a lovely girlfriend, I think you two would get along."

"So, wait, you were seeing a therapist? Like for a therapy session?"

He nodded. "I said that before you went Hulk Happy on me."

"I just... why?"

He shrugged, shaking his head as he ran a hand through his hair. "I needed someone to talk to. Someone nonjudgmental."

She frowned. "You know if something's wrong you can talk to any of us, right?"

"Yeah but I couldn't," he said, sighing softly. "You told me if I told anyone about that night, you'd break my thumbs. I figured a therapist, someone who there was a very low chance of you ever interacting with, would be safe to talk to."

She bit her lip, avoiding looking at him. "You had to see a therapist because…"

"Yeah, well, you drive me crazy, in the best ways possible."


	6. Forever

**F: Forever**

"Where do you think you're going?" Cabe asked when he found Walter walking down the hallway in the back area of a church.

"I'm going to see Paige," he told him, rubbing the back of his neck. "I think she's the only thing that will calm me down right now."

"As sweet as that notion is, it's bad luck to see the bride before the wedding."

Walter shook his head at the other man. "That's a stupid superstition. Bad luck doesn't exist. I have to talk to Paige."

Cabe grabbed Walter's arm when he began to walk away. "Look, as silly as you might think something is, Paige believes in it. You do not want to start your marriage off by upsetting her."

Walter looked down the hallway towards the closed door where Paige was with her bridesmaids before nodding. "Are you allowed to see her?"

Cabe nodded. "What do you want me to tell her?"

Fifteen minutes later, Cabe knocked on the door of the men's changing room. Walter stood from his chair and quickly walked to the other man. "Is she okay? Is she nervous? She didn't leave, did she?"

Cabe smiled, handing a folded piece of paper to Walter and patting his shoulder before he went over to Toby to help him fix his tie.

Walter glanced over his shoulder at his three friends and his future stepson then opened Paige's note.

_Dear Walter,_

_I know it's hard and I know you're getting impatient but I promise you, this wait will be worth it. Only thirty more minutes and then you won't be able to get rid of me so enjoy your time alone while you can. I know you're probably thinking right now that you never want to be rid of me._

He couldn't help chuckling, that was exactly what he'd thought.

_There's so much I want to say to you but I have to save most of it for the vows, but just know this, I love you with all of my heart. You may not believe that forever exists but I do and we are forever. For the rest of this life and whatever comes after. I'll see you soon._

_Love Paige_

He smiled, folding the letter and tucking it into his jacket pocket before he picked his phone up off a table and sending her a text. _Sorry_, _I don't have any paper. Forever sounds nice. I'll be waiting. I love you too.  
><em>


	7. Ghosts

**G: Ghosts**

"Happy?"

She turned away from the grave she stood in front of as Toby walked up the small hill in the cemetery. "Did you follow me?" she asked as he stopped next to her, his hands in the pockets of his jacket.

"I've always been curious about where you go every year. I did some research," he told her. "So, yes, I followed you. I thought you might need someone here."

"I don't need anyone," she said, sniffling quickly.

Toby took his jacket off, putting it around her shoulders then stepped back, he put his hands in the front pockets of his jeans. "You know, you don't deserve this. No one does."

She shrugged one shoulder, holding his jacket in place with one hand. "Shit happens."

He looked at the dates etched into the front of the gravestone and stepped towards her once again to kiss the side of her head quickly. He reached down to take her hand, a bit surprised when she didn't pull away. "I know you hate when people say this to you, but happy birthday." She squeezed her eyes shut, shaking her head once before he tugged on her hand. "Come on," he said softly.

"I'm fine here."

"You've spent every birthday since I've known you here, I'm assuming. You deserve a birthday party."

"I hate birthday parties," she muttered.

"Okay, then we shouldn't go back to the garage," he said, noticing a smile creep onto her lips. "It was Paige's idea."

She couldn't help letting out a quick laugh. "Yeah, right."

"Let me at least take you to lunch. You need something to eat then we can spend the rest of the day out here freezing if you'd like."

"Okay," she said. "Nowhere that sings to you though."

"I can't make any promises on that," he told her, holding onto her hand as he led her his car.


	8. Hat

**H: Hat**

Toby frowned as he opened the door of his apartment, only to find the living room empty. "Happy?" he called, going to the room they'd made into their office but she wasn't at her desk. Instead, there was one candle on his desk where he normally kept his hat with a note folded next to it.

_Come and find me. _ He read, picking up the note, smiling at her untidy scrawl. "Hide and seek? Really?" he muttered to himself as he blew out the candle.

He walked down the hallway to the bedroom, figuring the chances of her surprising him in the bathtub were astronomical. No more astronomical, though, than what he found when he opened the bedroom door: Happy laying in their bed wearing only his hat.

"About damn time you came home," she said, taking the hat off and tossing it to him.

It hit his chest and fell to the floor as he stared at her, shaking his head. "I'll never go to work again, I promise. I always hated private practice anyway."


	9. Injury

**I: Injury**

She'd suspected something was wrong since they were in Bosnia, watching him walk ahead of her favoring his left leg. Paige figured it was the rough and unfamiliar terrain of the wilderness that was causing Walter to limp until they got home.

Everyone had been too preoccupied with Happy's injuries and subsequent doctor's visits to worry about the bug bites and sunburn on their necks but Paige couldn't stop watching Walter limp around for two days. She finally approached him when he stood and visibly winced.

"What are you doing?" he asked when she rushed to his side and put an arm around his waist.

"You're hurt. You've been hurt and you've been ignoring it," she told him as she pulled his arm around her shoulders. "You need to lay down so I can take a look at your ankle."

"You don't think I'd know if I hurt myself?" he said as she led him to the couch and sat down next to him.

"No, because you're stubborn and refuse to admit when there's something wrong. Put your leg up here," she told him, patting her lap with her hand.

"You're joking," he muttered.

"Do I look like I'm joking? No. Let me see your leg."

He sighed softly and lifted his right leg onto the couch. "There's nothing wrong," he told her. He blinked, watching her hands as she softly began touching his leg, starting at his knee and slowly moving her hands downward until she got to his ankle then moved back up.

"Walter. Walter. Walt!" He shook himself, looking away from her hands to look at her, finding her eyebrows knotted in confusion.

"What?" he asked.

"I asked you if any of that hurt," she said.

He blinked, looking back at her hands, now both resting on his leg before he shook his head. "No. No, I… I didn't feel anything."

Paige frowned, looking down at his leg before she nodded once then lifted his leg off her lap and stood. "It's probably a good idea if you stay off it for a couple days though, just in case. Have Toby take a look at it later."

He nodded, looking at his leg and taking a deep breath before he reached down to rub his knee, already missing her hands.


	10. Jarred

AN: This one is a little bit of a stretch as far as the word goes but… yeah. It still works. I changed words three times before I wrote the story and tried to find a word to match it.

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><p><strong>J: Jarred<strong>

"That was really stupid, you know," Happy said as she sat next to Toby's hospital bed, holding his blood-soaked jacket in her lap. "You didn't have to get yourself shot."

"That bullet would have killed you," he told her. "A hole in my shoulder is a low price to pay to keep you brain intact."

"You know, we both could have avoided being hit. I calculated the trajectory of the bullet and I was going to move, then you jumped in front of me. It wasn't necessary."

He raised an eyebrow, turning his head to look at her. "Can't you just thank me for my heroics?"

She shook her head. "A couple inches to the right, the bullet would have pierced your heart and it would be a lot worse than hole in your shoulder. It would have killed you. At least if it did hit me in the head, I would have gone quick, you would have died slowly and in agony. I couldn't watch that, knowing it was my fault."

He smiled. "It's nice to know you care."

"Yeah well… I do. A lot," she said, shrugging her shoulder before she moved toward him, avoiding touching injured arm as she leaned over to kiss him. "So… thanks. Just don't do it again, okay?"

"Don't get shot at again and I won't."


	11. Knots

**K: Knots**

"This is ridiculous," Walter muttered under his breath as he sat on the floor, untangling strings of Christmas lights. "A pre-lit tree would have been far more efficient."

Paige frowned at him as she moved around the living room with their five-month-old daughter in her arms. "Yeah but then we lose the smell of a fresh cut pine tree."

"We'd also lose the dead needles on the floor," he said, picking up a handful of the light green pine needles that littered the floor of beneath the tree.

"Well, forgive me for trying to bring some Christmas cheer into the house for Ralph and Anna."

He couldn't help smiling, even as he struggled to untie a knot that had somehow formed near the end of a string. "I don't mind Christmas for the kids, as long as you insist on carrying on the Santa charade but next year can we please make it easier on ourselves and buy an artificial tree? Or myself, I should say, since you are not helping." He brought the knot closer to his face so he could examine it. "I told you last year, a shoebox is not a proper way to store these," he mumbled. "Stupid lights are a mess."

Paige walked over to him, holding Anna against her hip and picked up some silver tinsel from the ground, placing it on Walter's head. "There. I decorated."


	12. Lullaby

**L: Lullaby**

Paige sighed softly as she rolled over, her arm falling onto the empty side of the bed beside her. "Walter?" she asked aloud as she sat up. She left the room, noticing the light on in the nursery down the hallway.

She slowly walked to the room, pausing when she heard a voice singing behind the door. She couldn't help smiling as she pushed the door open quietly and spotted Walter walking the room with their newborn daughter singing a soft song.

_Oft, in dreams I wander  
>To that cot again.<br>I feel her arms a-huggin' me  
>As when she held me then.<br>And I hear her voice a hummin'  
>To me as in days of yore,<br>When she used to rock me fast asleep  
>Outside the cabin door.<em>

He turned, falling silent when he saw her. "It's uh… it's an Irish lullaby my mother used to sing to Megan and I when we were ill." He put the sleeping baby back into her crib before looking back at Paige. "I heard crying and you were asleep… you need your rest so… it's the only song I know to sing to a baby."

She smiled up at him. "Bing Crosby recorded it in '44. I've heard of it," she said before she stepped forward to look in the crib, leaning her head against his shoulder as they whispered the chorus together.

_Too-ra loo-ra loo-ra, Too-ra loo-ra li,  
>Too-ra loo-ra loo-ra, Hush now don't you cry.<br>Too-ra loo-ra loo-ra, Too-ra loo-ra li,  
>Too-ra loo-ra loo-ra, That's an Irish lullaby.<em>


	13. Mother

AN: I know I haven't updated in a while but work was crazy over the holidays and I didn't have much time to write. I'll be trying to update this at least once a week now that things have slowed down.

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><p><strong>M- Mother<strong>

Toby was excited, over the moon actually, at the prospect of being a father. When Happy told him she was pregnant, he ran to tell everyone else without giving her a chance to discuss the life growing inside of her with him. Paige immediately came to her and started talking about a baby shower while Cabe handed out beers to the men to toast the father-to-be.

It was a full thirty minutes before Toby realized she walked out of the garage and into his old bedroom, sitting on the bed that Sylvester kept in the room, just in case.

"Hey, what are you doing in here?" he asked as he walked through the open door to sit on the bed with her.

"Did you ever consider I don't want a baby shower?" she said simply, not looking at him.

"Well, cribs and diapers are expensive," he said with a shrug.

She shook her head. "Not exactly what I mean." She stood, crossing her arms as she moved to face the wall.

"Happy, are you not happy?"

She looked over her shoulder at him. "Did you just…" she began before she trailed off, shaking her head. "I don't know how to take care of a baby."

"Well, Paige did it. If we can keep Ralph alive on her own for 11 years, I'm sure we can do the same for Toby Junior."

Happy couldn't help smiling as she took her head, finally turning to look at him. "I don't know how to be a mother."

Toby nodded, finally understanding. He walked over to her, putting his arms around her to hug her tightly. "You're not the first. My parents were… not great. We'll figure it out, alright? We'll figure it out."

She nodded against his shoulder. "If it's a boy, we are not calling him Toby Junior."

"We have eight months to discuss that but I'm not giving up that easy."

"You never have."


End file.
